Gemini Observatory: Exploring The Universe, Sharing its Wonders

Semester 14B Call for ProposalsHome » Sciops » Observing With Gemini

Gemini Observatory invites its community to propose scientific investigations for the 2014B semester, 1 August2014 - 31 January 2015.

The submission deadline varies with partner and ranges from MONDAY, MARCH 31, to TUESDAY, APRIL 1. Multi-partner joint proposals should be submitted by the deadline of the partner country to which the Principal Investigator isaffiliated. Large and Long Program Proposals, and proposals for exchange time on Gemini from the Japanese communityshould be submitted by the Gemini Staff proposal deadline, March 31, 2014 at 23:59 HST (Hawaii-Aleutian StandardTime). An overview of the Gemini proposal submission process is available.

The Call is open to all partners and host institutions : Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, the US, Chile and the Universityof Hawaii. US time is open to all astronomers including those at non-US institutions, although in that case the proposalmust explain why U.S. national facilities are needed. The distribution of time across the partners is available in the timedistribution table. The primary 2014B Call for Proposal pages are available as a pdf document.

Jump to:What's New in 2014BSummary of 2014B Gemini CapabilitiesLarge and Long ProgramsInstruments and Modes Not Offered in 2014BImportant Dates for 2014BPhase I Tool for 2014BTime Available in 2014BExchange Time in 2014BBring One, Get One: Student Travel Assistance ProgramRemote EavesdroppingAdditional Information

What's New in 2014B!

The following capabilities and announcements are new for the 2014B semester. Please see the relevantinstrument pages and section of the call for proposals for details.

Updated IQ20 image quality constraint: The IQ20 image quality observing condition constrainthas been updated to better reflect actual image quality statistics at our observing sites. Theintegration time calculators have been updated to reflect this change.GPI will be offered for use at Gemini South in 2014B.GMOS-S will feature new Hamamatsu CCD detectors, pending commissioning in July.New Opportunity: Bring one, get one! In 2014B, Gemini Observatory will subsidize, with up toUS$2000, the travel expenses of individual under- and graduate students visiting Gemini North orSouth, when accompanying a senior observer.Large and Long Programs proposals will be accepted for observations beginning in 2014B.

Summary of 2014B Gemini Capabilities

Gemini North

Target are generally limited to 17 < RA hours < 13.5 and -37 < dec degrees < +90. In some casesthere are additional constraints as described below and in the target and instrument accessibility page.

Facility instruments offered in 2014B, in queue or classical mode, are:

GMOS North (0.36-0.98 micron imager and spectrometer): available throughout the semester.GNIRS (1-5 micron spectrometer): available from October 6 through the remainder of thesemester, limited to RA 21h to 13.5h.NIFS (0.95-2.40 micron integral field unit spectrometer): available throughout the semester.NIRI (1-5 micron imager): available throughout the semester.Altair (facility Adaptive Optics system): with NIFS, GNIRS and NIRI (except M-band), limited toRA 18h to 12.5 h and Dec -27° to +68°. Laser guide star AO is available in queue mode only.Please be aware of current observational limitations and overheads to the LGS+P1 "super-seeing"mode.

Visitor instruments offered in 2014B (subject to demand), in queue mode only, are:

DSSI Speckle camera: a dual-channel visual-wavelength camera giving simultaneous diffractionlimited images in two filters over a 2.8 - 5.6 arcsecond field of view. Up to 100 hours, subject todemand, are available during July 17-27, limiting RAs to 15h to 1h.TEXES: a high resolution (R ~4,000-100,000) mid-infrared (5-25 micron) spectrometer. Up to 100hours, subject to demand, are available during August 7-17, limiting RAs to 16h to 3h.

Gemini South

Target are generally limited to 16 < RA hours < 12 and -90 < dec degrees < +28. In some cases thereare additional constraints as described below and in the target and instrument accessibility page.

Facility instruments offered in 2014B, in queue or classical mode, are:

GPI (Adaptive Optics 0.9-2.4 micron imaging/polarimeter/integral-field spectrometer): offeredin shared-risk mode throughout the semester. For nominal performance, GPI is restricted toobserving constraints of CC50 and IQ70, and a maximum Zenith angle of 40 degrees, whichrestricts declinations to -80° to +20°. Owing to additional commissioning work at the start of the2014B semester, targets are limited to RAs from 19h to 11h. Please also note the special GPI targetduplication policy.FLAMINGOS-2 (0.9-2.4 micron wide-field imager and spectrometer): offered in imaging andlong-slit modes throughout the semester. MOS mode is not offered at this time. Investigators shouldrefer to the instrument status page for the most up to date information on delivered image qualityand spectral resolution.GMOS-South (0.36-0.93 micron imager and spectrometer): available throughout the semester

with the new Hamamatsu CCDs, pending commissioning in July. See the Status and Availabilitypage for updates. Investigators should use the new Hamamatsu CCD option when using theGMOS-S ITC.GSAOI (0.9-2.4 micron adaptive optics imager) with the GeMS Adaptive Optics system::targets are restricted to RA 19h to 11h and Dec -75° to +15°, and there are important guide starlimitations. Investigators must check the availability of Guide Star constellations using theObserving Tool before submitting a proposal.Observations in IQ85 are possible for programs thatcan use delivered images with full-width half-maximum ~0.2 arcseconds as opposed to the ≤ 0.1arcseconds delivered in IQ70 or IQ20 conditions. Proposals requesting IQ85 constraints areencouraged. Laser guide star Adaptive Optics is available in queue mode only.

Large and Long ProgramsLarge and long Programs (LPs) are Principal Investigator-defined and -driven programs that are expected to require eithersignificantly more time than a partner typically approves for a single program, or extends over two to six semesters, orboth. The participating partners (US, Canada, Australia, and Argentina) will make up to 20% of their time at eachtelescope available for LPs over each of the next 6* semesters from the start of LP execution in 2014B. PrincipalInvestigators of LPs must be based at an institution of one of the participating partner countries. Investigators submittingProposals for LPs, to begin execution in 2014B, must have already submitted a letter of intent prior to the February 3rd,2014, deadline. Further information on LPs and the LP proposal process can be found on the Large And Long Programpage.

* - Australia agrees to participate in the LP process through 2015, and Australian PIs are eligible for programs that willconclude by the end of 2015.

Instruments and Modes Not Offered in 2014B

The R600 grating in GMOS-North and GMOS-South will be available for classical programs only. This grating isused infrequently and is difficult to schedule in the queue.As in past semesters, NIRI is not available for spectroscopy.FLAMINGOS-2 MOS mode is not offered at this time.The use of the GPI Non Redundant Mask is not offered at this time.The following instruments are not offered in 2014B (and have been retired): Michelle, NICI and T-ReCS.

Important Dates for 2014B

The deadline for Phase I submission varies with partner and ranges from MONDAY, MARCH 31, to TUESDAY, APRIL 1.Poor weather and Director's Discretionary Time proposals are accepted at any time via the Phase I Tool. For successfulproposals, both queue and classical, the Phase II submission deadline is 15 JULY, 2014. More information is available inthe 2014B schedule.

Phase I Tool for 2014BProposals for time on Gemini, and for time on Subaru via the Gemini-Subaru exchange program, must use the GeminiPhase I Tool (PIT). Latex and Word templates are available to create a pdf attachment which includes the science andtechnical cases. The requested time for the visitor instruments should include all required calibrations (unlike the facilityinstruments where the time required for a specified set of baseline calibrations should not be included). Investigators arestrongly encouraged to include the output from the integration time calculators in the proposal. See the PIT page forinstallation information and the help pages for the PIT for assistance.

Time Available in 2014BThe time available for each partner and host institution in 2014B is shown on the time distribution page. The science timeavailable at each telescope includes a 7% Director's Discretionary Time allocation. Currently, the Director makes 5%available for staff use via the Call for Proposals, while 2% will be available to all astronomers through the Director'sDiscretionary Time proposal process. At Gemini North, 163 nights are expected to be available for science. At GeminiSouth, 153 nights are expected to be available for science.

Exchange Time

A minimum of 5 classical nights are available on Subaru in Semester 2014B.Proposals should be submitted via the normal Gemini Phase I process. PIs in the Gemini community

who intend to use the Subaru telescope are encouraged to apply through the time-exchange program andnot through the open use Subaru Call. Subaru Observatory staff request that any PIs with direct access toGemini not request time on Gemini via the Subaru exchange program.

Time must be requested in integer nights, and runs will be evenly distributed across dark, gray andbright nights.

See the Subaru Call for Proposals for important information. Notes on capabilities follow:

COMICS (mid-infrared camera and spectrometer) is available.FMOS (near-infrared fiber-fed multi-object spectrometer) is available in shared-risk mode only.FOCAS (optical camera and spectrograph) is available.HDS (optical high dispersion spectrometer) is available.Hyper Suprime-Cam (very wide field optical to far-red imager) is available in shared-risk modeusing grizy filters only. The number of HSC nights is limited to a few nights for the Geminicommunity in 2014B.

IRCS (infrared camera and spectrometer, with Natural and Laser Guide Star Adaptive Opticscapability) is available.MOIRCS (near-infrared imager and multi-object spectrometer) is available. The instrument willbe unavailable during a few months (possibly during the end of the year) due to engineering workfor the detector upgrade.Suprime-Cam (wide field optical imager) is available. The instrument will be unavailable for threemonths (presumably from September to November, though the exact period is not fixed yet).The following visiting instruments are also available, although limited to one or two runs in 2014B:

HiCIAO: provides a near-infrared imaging capability in the vicinity of bright sources.Kyoto3DII: provides Fabry-Perot / filter imaging and integral field / long-slit spectroscopy inthe optical.RAVEN: Multi-Object Adaptive Optics(MOAO) demonstrator - delivers diffraction limitedimages in 2 science channels to IRCS.SCExAO: Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics - delivers high contrast images ofthe innermost surrounding of bright sources to HiCIAO.

Observing proposals using the visiting instruments must include the relevant instrument PI as a Co-investigator.

No Gemini-Keck exchange time is offered in Semester 2014B.

Bring One, Get One: Student Travel Assistance ProgramThe Gemini Observatory, at the request of its Users' Committee, would like to strongly encourage the visit of students toobserving runs (attending Queue, Classical, or Priority Visiting Observing). In semester 2014B, the Gemini Observatorywill subsidize with up to US$2000 the travel expenses of individual under- and graduate students visiting Gemini North orSouth, when accompanying a senior observer. Please contact the Director or Deputy Director if you would like to makeuse of this opportunity.

Remote EavesdroppingRemote Eavesdropping will be available in 2014B for all Band 1 and 2 programs, except for GSAOI programs.Investigators will be invited to eavesdropping via the PI email announcing they have been granted time.

Additional InformationPlease see the page of supporting information for additional general information. Prospective users should also refer to

the target and instrument accessibility page, and the instrument pages for detailed and up to date information oninstrumentation.

Questions and Answers

All questions concerning proposals, or any other subject, should be made using the Gemini HelpDesk. This web-basedsystem will send the request to your National Gemini Office staff in the first instance who will then escalate it to Geministaff if necessary.

Comments and suggestions on the format and content of this page and supporting pages are welcome, and should besent to Steve Margheim.

Last Modified: February 28, 2014, smargheim

Sitemap | Website Chilean Mirror

Gemini Observatory: Exploring The Universe, Sharing its Wonders

Semester 2014B Important DatesHome » Sciops » Observing With Gemini » 2014B Call for Proposals

Key dates and events in the proposal process are shown below. The Phase I and Phase II deadlines are highlighted.

Date Event Comments

31 March - April 1,2014(varies with partner)

Proposal deadline Proposals received by National Gemini Offices(NGOs).

Late April/Early May (set bypartner)

LPTAC, NTAC meetings Scientific assessments by each Gemini partner ("NationalTAC") and the Large and Long Program TAC.

12 to 14 May 2014 E-transmission Electronic transmission of proposals to Gemini fromNTACs.

22 May 2014 ITAC International Time Allocation Committee meets to resolveissues and recommend programs.

28 May 2014 Final queue/schedule, andITAC & Gemini feedback toNGOs

After approval by Gemini Director.

13 June 2014 14B schedule and PhaseIIs available 2014B OT templates available to PIs.

1 July 2014 Phase II reviews start The response time is 7 days for checking by NGOs (from"For Review") and by Gemini CSs (from "For Activation").

15 July 2014 Phase II deadline PI deadline for submission of completed Phase IIPrograms to National Offices (earlier submission isencouraged).

30 July 2014 "For Activation" deadline NGO deadline for submission of completed Phase IIPrograms to Gemini.

1 August 2014 Start of semester 2014B 2014B programs may be observed earlier to fill queuenights.

Last Modified: February 28, 2014, smargheim

Sitemap | Website Chilean Mirror

Gemini Observatory: Exploring The Universe, Sharing its Wonders

Semester 2014B Time DistributionHome » Sciops » Observing With Gemini » 2014B Call for Proposals

OverviewThe time available on each of Gemini North and South is distributed according to the Observatory partners' shares . Tomaintain overall balance amongst the partnership, the allocations are adjusted each semester as a result of actual timecharged in prior semesters. The allocations are approved at the Operations Working Group meeting prior to the Call.Historically, around 5% of each semester's science time is used to complete highly ranked programs from the previous twosemesters to which the ITAC granted rollover status. This time is included in the time distributions given below.

The science time available at each telescope includes a 7% Director's Discretionary Time allocation. Currently, theDirector makes 5% available for staff use via the Call for Proposals, while 2% will be available to all astronomers throughthe Director's Discretionary Time proposal process. The estimated time available for each partner and host institution in2014B is shown in the Tables below. The number of nights is approximated by int(hours/10).

Gemini North: Time Availability and Distribution

The planned time available for science use at Gemini North is 88.5% of the total time available in 2014B, which amountsto a minimum of ~163 nights. This time includes time used for queue and classical observations, large and long programsfor participating partners, weather loss, and time lost to faults. A total of 15 nights of the science time have been reservedfor Director's Discretionary Time, as well as time for system verification and demonstration science of new instruments andmodes. A total of 21 nights of the total available time have been reserved for engineering; this includes a 14 nightshutdown, engineering time in the queue, and instrument performance monitoring. All unused engineering time will bereturned to science.

Partner Estimated Hours Available

US 859*

Canada 231*

Australia 99*

Brazil 73

Argentina 43*

Univ. of Hawaii (host) 176

* - The total time available for the United States, Canada, Australia, and Argentina includes time allocated through theLarge and Long Program process.

Gemini South: Time Availability and Distribution

The planned time available for science use at Gemini South is 83% of the total time available in 2014B, which amounts toa minimum of ~153 nights. This time includes time used for queue and classical observations, large and long programs forparticipating partners, weather loss, and time lost to faults. A total of 28 nights of this time have been reserved forDirector's Discretionary Time, GSAOI guaranteed time, the GPI Campaign, and GPI guaranteed time . A total of 31 nights

of the total available time have been reserved for engineering; this includes a 16 night shutdown, engineering time in thequeue, instrument performance monitoring, and commissioning for new instruments and modes. All unused engineeringtime will be returned to science.

Partner Estimated Hours Available

US 727*

Canada 191*

Australia 87*

Brazil 60

Argentina 35*

Chile (host) 154

* - The total time available for the United States, Canada, Australia, and Argentina includes time allocated through theLarge and Long Program process.

Last Modified: February 28, 2014, smargheim

Sitemap | Website Chilean Mirror

Gemini Observatory: Exploring The Universe, Sharing its Wonders

2014B Instrument Availability and Target AccessibilityHome » Sciops » Observing With Gemini » 2014B Call for Proposals

This page provides best estimates, at the time of the Call for Proposals, of instrument availability and target (RA,dec) restrictions for 2014B.

Jump to:

Instrument and Instrument Configuration RestrictionsNon-Sidereal TargetsGemini NorthGemini SouthGraphical Illustration

Instrument and Instrument Configuration Restrictions

At each Gemini telescope, instruments are mounted at the Cassegrain focus on the instrument support structure (ISS). Ascience fold mirror mounted inside the ISS can be rotated to send the light from the telescope to any of four side-lookingports, or can be retracted so that the light goes to the up-looking port. At each site, the calibration unit and the AdaptiveOptics system use two of the side ports, leaving two side-looking and one uplooking port for other instrumentation. Asmore than three instruments are offered each semester, instrument swaps will be required and not all instruments will beavailable for the entire semester. Instrument swaps will be driven by demand and scheduled to minimize impact on thequeue. Certain targets or entire programs may not be feasible once the final schedule is determined, at ITAC or thereafter.If an instrument is requested for less than 6% of the Bands 1+2 time, the Observatory reserves the right to limit the RArange available to programs, or to not schedule the instrument. Changes to the instrument mounting are not permittedduring classical runs.

Non-Sidereal Targets

Non-sidereal targets can have a broader range in RA than indicated in the Tables below due to, for example, the need toobserve comets relatively close to the Sun. The ephemeris for any submitted target however must include a position thatis accessible between evening and morning twilight at some point in the semester. For rapidly moving targets PIs shouldspecify in the proposal when the target is accessible, and the coordinates of the target at that time, so that the observationcan be checked for feasibility.

Gemini North Instrument Availability and Target Accessibility

All instruments are restricted for sky visibility as described in the Table and Figure below. In addition:

GNIRS will only be available from October 6 through the remainder of the semester, after engineering work on theinstrument has been completed. Targets are therefore limited to RA 21h to 13.5h.DSSI Speckle Camera will be available for up to 100 hours, subject to demand, from 17-27 July, 2014; targets aretherefore limited to RA 15h to 1h.TEXES will be available for up to 100 hours, subject to demand, from 7-17 August, 2014; targets are thereforelimited to RA 16h to 3h.The Laser Guide Star (LGS) system must be used at or above 40 degrees elevation. How this translates into RAand dec restrictions is indicated in the Table.

Accessible Restricted** Inaccessible

Declination,non-LGS -30° to +73° -37° to -30°,

+73° to +90° < -37°

Declination,LGS -22° to +65° -27° to -22°,

+65° to +68° < -27° and > +68°

Right Ascension,non-LGS 19h to 11h 17h to 19h,

11h to 13.5h 13.5h to 17h

Right Ascension,LGS 20h to 10h 18h to 20h,

10h to 12.5h 12.5h to 18h

Right Ascension,GNIRS 22h to 11h 21h to 22h,

11h to 13.5h 13.5h to 21h

Right Ascension,DSSI 16h to 0h 15h to 16h,

0h to 1h 1h to 15h

Right Ascension,TEXES 17h to 2h 16h to 17h,

2h to 3h 3h to 16h

**Due to limited sky availability during the semester, GMOS MOS programs requiring pre-imaging should not have targetsin this region, and other programs with targets in this region should not require a large amount of time, or have strict timingor observing constraints.

Gemini South Instrument Availability and Target Accessibility

All instruments are restricted for sky visibility as described in the Table and Figure below. In addition:

Observations using GeMS are restricted to greater than 45 degrees elevation. How this translates into RA and decrestrictions is indicated in the Table.Owing to additional commissioning work at the start of the 2014B semester, targets for GPI are limited to RAs from19h to 11h. For nominal performance, GPI targets are restricted to a maximum zenith distance of 40 degrees,translated into dec restrictions in the Table below.

Accessible Restricted** Inaccessible

Declination -87° to +22° -90° to -87°,+22° to +28° > +28°

Declination,GSAOI + GeMS -70° to +10° -75° to -70°,

+10° to +15° < -75° and > +15°

Declination,GPI -75° to +15° -80° to --75°,

+15° to +20° < -80° and > +20°

Right Ascension 19h to 9h 16h to 19h,9h to 12h 12h to 16h

Right Ascension,GSAOI + GeMS 20h to 8h 19h to 20h,

8h to 11h 11h to 19h

Right Ascension,GPI 20h to 9h 19h to 20h,

9h to 11h 11h to 19h

**Due to limited sky availability during the semester, GMOS MOS programs requiring pre-imaging should not have targetsin this region, and other programs with targets in this region should not require a large amount of time, or have strict timingor observing constraints.

Graphical Illustration

Figure 1: Schematic representation of target accessibility at Gemini North during semester 2014B. Green regions offerunrestricted access, red regions are inaccessible. Hatched areas indicate the more restricted LGS regions. The yellowregion is possible, but restricted. See text, and values in the Gemini North Table above.

Figure 2: Schematic representation of target accessibility at Gemini South during semester 2014B. Green regions offerunrestricted access, red regions are inaccessible. Hatched areas indicate the more restricted GeMS regions. The yellowregion is possible, but restricted. See text, and values in the Gemini South Table above.

Last Modified: February 28, 2014, smargheim

Sitemap | Website Chilean Mirror